Advent 2- What sort of people ought you to be?
When we think about the Second Coming of Jesus it can be easy for us to get caught up in the dramatic apocalyptic imagery. There is imagery of angels gathering people, of being caught up in the air, the sun and moon being darkened, and consuming fire. The book of Revelation is full of this imagery, and it is often reusing imagery from Old Testament books.
There are Christians who get very tangled in trying to create timelines, and attach present day countries and leaders to these symbols. Within the lifetime of the people in this room there have been various predictions offered. I remember my Opa talking about the founding of the state of Israel and the wars that followed, and how people were connecting those events to predictions of the end times. When I was a kid, I remember seeing the televangelist Jack Van Impe on TV and (without any doubt in his voice) connecting the USSR to various apocalyptic images from the Bible. There were people who were certain about the year 2000 being the end, and then we moved into the Mayan calendar for the end of the world in the year 2012. When COVID started causing countries to shut down, and not allow people to participate in aspects of society without the vaccine, there were Christians claiming we were living in the final days. And now, with the turmoil happening with Israel, there are Christians, yet again, claiming that we are in the end times.
There has been a lot of energy spent on creating timelines, dissecting apocalyptic images, and connecting political figures to the image of the Antichrist. So far, they have all been wrong. They seem to speak with incredible confidence about their predictions, as well as disdain for anyone who doubts them (as if they lacked knowledge or faith).
I believe that there will be a time when Christ will come again, but I also take Christ at his word that no one knows the time, and he will come like a thief in the night. So anytime someone claims to know the time, I am automatically suspicious. I think time spent drawing up charts and timelines, and seeking the identity of the Antichrist… I think it is misspent energy.
If we are concerned about the Second Coming, then our time could be better spent. John the Baptist calls people to repentance and baptism in preparation for the revealing of the Messiah. The Second Letter of Peter likewise says that the delay of the coming of Christ allows for more people to repent.
‘Repentance’ can have a pretty negative reputation. We might imagine people filled with self-loathing, and monks whipping themselves. … For quite a while we seemed to think that most of our psychological problems came from bad self-esteem. We used that to explain all kinds of behaviour. … When we think about repentance, we usually think about being confronted about the bad things we do, or have done. It all feels very negative.
Repentance, however, isn’t just turning away from something bad, it is also turning towards something good. I would even say repentance is primarily about turning towards the good- turning towards God. That means we will automatically be turning away from something in order to turn towards God. But repentance should be primarily positive because it is primarily turning towards God. The turning away from the bad is almost a side effect.
In Peter’s letter, he asks, while we wait for the coming of Christ,
“what sort of people ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness?” (2 Pet 3:11-12).
In a sense, the question isn’t the timing of the Second Coming that should occupy our thoughts. What should occupy us is what kind of person are we becoming? What kind of people will we be when he arrives? … He answers saying,
“strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish; and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation” (2 Pet 3:14-15).He is telling us to consider the delay of the coming of the Lord to be a good thing, because it allows for more time for repentance, and more time for people to be drawn to God. The saints also talk about repentance as being a continuous process for Christians. The life of a Christian is a life of constantly turning towards God. So having more time for repentance is also about allowing time for a deeper repentance for all of us. So the delay is God’s patience, and a greater salvation.
Peter speaks about, holiness, godliness, being found at peace, and being found without spot or blemish, as all being related to what kind of people we ought to be as we prepare for the Day of God. He says,
“we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home” (2 peter 3:13).
In the delay, we are given an opportunity to prepare to live as citizens of the kingdom of God.
Imagine living in a country that is governed badly. Leaders are corrupt. Crime is rampant. People treat each other terribly. The laws are not enforced. The people don’t seem to care about doing what is right, or about creating a better society. The people are marked by lust and greed. The people constantly over-indulge in whatever pleasures they can find, ignoring their responsibilities. Their actions are driven by what would be good for them, and them alone- they “look out for number one”. People are constantly at each other’s throats in anger- screaming, disrespecting, attacking. It is full of people acting with ulterior motives- pretending to do something that is good for others, but secretly it is just another scheme that benefits them. It is a country that is often chaotic, but it seems to hold together and bump along.
Say you lived in that society. It would be easy to just say ‘when in Rome, do as the Romans do’. It would be easy to just become like that. If you are surrounded with that, then it would be easy to spit back anger when confronted with anger. It would be easy to grab for what you can get, when you know that that’s what everyone else will be doing. It would be easy to indulge in every sensual desire in a society that encourages it and profits from it. It would be easy to become the kind of person who only thinks about yourself, and looks down on others.
But then imagine, you hear about a foreign power that is planning to invade your country. They plan to invade and to impose their own ways of doing things. They plan on governing well. They will deal with crime and enforce the law. … But their invasion isn’t just about laws, it is also about imposing their own societal norms. Their norms assume people will treat each other with kindness, and respect. In their society people genuinely care about each other and want the good of the other. They willingly give to those in need, not grudgingly, but out of genuine care for their good. They give to those who are doing good in their society, because they believe in doing good. They value self-restraint, believing that indulging in our sensual desires can lead to a kind of slavery and addiction. They have a sense of purpose- a sense that their life means something. They have a part to play in the bigger picture and in their relationships with others. They work at their jobs with diligence, and they show the same diligence in their relationships with their family and friends, and also in their volunteer work. Rather than turning on each other in anger and attacking one another, they are quick to forgive, assuming the best in others, and giving them the benefit of the doubt. The people of this society seem to have a genuine admiration for each other. They listen to each other, even strangers, in such a way that they seem to be interested in what they do. They seem to think that everyone has something interesting to say.
And their King is a perfect example of all these virtues. He is loved and respected. And they know he loves and respects them too. He is just and kind. He doesn’t have secret selfish motives. He is genuinely good. His advice is sought and followed. He is considered to have wisdom beyond anyone else’s ability. They believe that they are blessed to have his leadership and guidance. They all desire to be like him- they all seek to imitate him in whatever they do- whether it is fixing a car, emptying a trash can, or managing an office. They see him as teaching them how to live- how to be human.
So, this country is planning on invading your broken and chaotic country. You find this out because they have sent people ahead to spread the news. Someone has approached you to tell you. Your country resists, but you come to know that it is inevitable. Your country will be taken over. So, you prepare for this invasion by learning to live like someone of the invading country. You learn that there are little pockets of people who gather together to learn to live in this other way. You start learning to respect others. It’s hard because the full invasion hasn’t happened yet, and you are learning to respect people who don’t respect you. You are learning to live with forgiveness and mercy when you are surrounded by anger and hate. You learn to give when those around you just want to take. You learn to restrain when those around you indulge. You learn to live with purpose and diligence, doing good. … And you learn to love the King. You know he already loves you, and you seek to be changed by his love, so that you can fit in as a citizen of his kingdom.
This is the situation the early Christians believed we are in. We are anticipating a holy invasion. And we are invited to learn to live as citizens of this new kingdom. The delay gives us time to prepare, so let’s not waste the time we have to prepare. AMEN
Imagine living in a country that is governed badly. Leaders are corrupt. Crime is rampant. People treat each other terribly. The laws are not enforced. The people don’t seem to care about doing what is right, or about creating a better society. The people are marked by lust and greed. The people constantly over-indulge in whatever pleasures they can find, ignoring their responsibilities. Their actions are driven by what would be good for them, and them alone- they “look out for number one”. People are constantly at each other’s throats in anger- screaming, disrespecting, attacking. It is full of people acting with ulterior motives- pretending to do something that is good for others, but secretly it is just another scheme that benefits them. It is a country that is often chaotic, but it seems to hold together and bump along.
Say you lived in that society. It would be easy to just say ‘when in Rome, do as the Romans do’. It would be easy to just become like that. If you are surrounded with that, then it would be easy to spit back anger when confronted with anger. It would be easy to grab for what you can get, when you know that that’s what everyone else will be doing. It would be easy to indulge in every sensual desire in a society that encourages it and profits from it. It would be easy to become the kind of person who only thinks about yourself, and looks down on others.
But then imagine, you hear about a foreign power that is planning to invade your country. They plan to invade and to impose their own ways of doing things. They plan on governing well. They will deal with crime and enforce the law. … But their invasion isn’t just about laws, it is also about imposing their own societal norms. Their norms assume people will treat each other with kindness, and respect. In their society people genuinely care about each other and want the good of the other. They willingly give to those in need, not grudgingly, but out of genuine care for their good. They give to those who are doing good in their society, because they believe in doing good. They value self-restraint, believing that indulging in our sensual desires can lead to a kind of slavery and addiction. They have a sense of purpose- a sense that their life means something. They have a part to play in the bigger picture and in their relationships with others. They work at their jobs with diligence, and they show the same diligence in their relationships with their family and friends, and also in their volunteer work. Rather than turning on each other in anger and attacking one another, they are quick to forgive, assuming the best in others, and giving them the benefit of the doubt. The people of this society seem to have a genuine admiration for each other. They listen to each other, even strangers, in such a way that they seem to be interested in what they do. They seem to think that everyone has something interesting to say.
And their King is a perfect example of all these virtues. He is loved and respected. And they know he loves and respects them too. He is just and kind. He doesn’t have secret selfish motives. He is genuinely good. His advice is sought and followed. He is considered to have wisdom beyond anyone else’s ability. They believe that they are blessed to have his leadership and guidance. They all desire to be like him- they all seek to imitate him in whatever they do- whether it is fixing a car, emptying a trash can, or managing an office. They see him as teaching them how to live- how to be human.
So, this country is planning on invading your broken and chaotic country. You find this out because they have sent people ahead to spread the news. Someone has approached you to tell you. Your country resists, but you come to know that it is inevitable. Your country will be taken over. So, you prepare for this invasion by learning to live like someone of the invading country. You learn that there are little pockets of people who gather together to learn to live in this other way. You start learning to respect others. It’s hard because the full invasion hasn’t happened yet, and you are learning to respect people who don’t respect you. You are learning to live with forgiveness and mercy when you are surrounded by anger and hate. You learn to give when those around you just want to take. You learn to restrain when those around you indulge. You learn to live with purpose and diligence, doing good. … And you learn to love the King. You know he already loves you, and you seek to be changed by his love, so that you can fit in as a citizen of his kingdom.
This is the situation the early Christians believed we are in. We are anticipating a holy invasion. And we are invited to learn to live as citizens of this new kingdom. The delay gives us time to prepare, so let’s not waste the time we have to prepare. AMEN
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